It is no longer a secret that the prescriptions made on this blog resonate through the topmost echelons of Nigeria’s DEFSEC architecture.

Following on the heels of the unsolicited but very well-received articulation on a Special Operations Command for the Nigerian Army, permit me to again crave your indulgence in offering perspectives on the way forward for our resurgent Nigerian Army.

In so doing, please be guided by the following ‘Terms of Reference’

– what do you think the NA have learned or not learned after 25 years of non-stop combat operations across various theatres at home and abroad

– what would be your ideal ORBAT for the Nigerian Army drawing from the foregone experiences and from the fact of the most diversified geography on the continent – jungle, swamp, delta, savanna, mountain, sahel and desert? How should such formations be deployed and poised for decisive impact?

– what do you think should be the ideal size of the Nigerian Army, judging from the fact of our 177 million-strong population and the continuous habitation of over 94,000 communities from end to end?

– given the lessons of our military history, what adjustments to NA doctrine would you suggest?

– what is your preferred scope for a training regimen and what training synergies should Nigeria develop to guarantee the maximum effectiveness of our Nigerian Army?

– what do you hope to see by way of field exercises and why?

– which way forward for local defence production at DICON and the Special Vehicle Plant?

– what should be the core procurement focus of the Nigerian Army, where should Nigeria acquire her weaponry from, why and what should we seek to gain from these transactions?

Please contribute your quota meaningfully and be guided by the spirit of patriotism in your iteration. What we seek is to ensure that the unfortunate and unsavory lessons which have been learnt in 25 years are put to the best possible use in charting a new way forward for our glorious Nigerian Army.

92 Responses to ARTICULATE YOUR STRATEGIC VISION (2015-2035) FOR THE NIGERIAN ARMY

I hope you are not distracted by the breathtaking scenery. That is our beautiful country, gentlemen..nearly equalled in Africa for sheer geographical diversity ONLY by Cameroon, where they have the Sahel in-country but fall just short of the sand dunes of the Sahara Desert.

How do we train, equip and deploy an army to dominate the plethora of terrains in a professional manner?

Let us get started. Freeegulf, Henry the Lion Heart, Capt Tobias, Major Ohis, Chief Agostinho, Egbon Jimmy, Doziex and all the regular pundits…you have the floor now.

Oga beeg, just got out of my hypnotism(couldn’t come up with a better term) just after viewing the pictoral beauty of my beloveth country. First and foremost, we have to cure our psychological sickness concerning our approach to ethnical and religious differences in the country. Boko haram would have been a mince meat for Nigerian armed forces had it been a fight being fought in a neigbouring country (flash back to somalia et mali). We have to learn how not to use our tribal differences for personal, devilish ambitions if we must grow as a country(believe me). again, we have to review our defsec, to attract major investors to our country, we must have a strong, revered security outfit that will act as a deterent to enemy forces. Thirdly, we are a 180 million people secured by a 100,000 soldiers? Or less. Left for me. i would have asked for a 650,000 troops which is impossible and attainable. My 2 pence…

Oga Franky, you have touched on a very fundamental point. In order for us to reap our full potential, Nigeria needs to function as a single, well oiled unit. That point is visually captured by General Beegs pictures of beautiful, but diverse environments.

We cannot afford divisions based on ethnicity, religion or section. Without these primitive identity conflicts, boko haram would NEVER EVER have found the oxygen for its take off. We also need to append the Civil War to Oga Beegeagles list of wars, because it marked the first time our nation and its military were dragged into wasteful hatred, wanton bloodshed; economic and infrastructural bleeding instead of building, development and growth of national confidence.

I made this post along similar lines in an earlier article on this site:

“The Nigerian Constitution is our greatest security threat. Until we fix it, we will keep applying bandages to our rickety national foundation and going in round and round in ever more entropic circles. This call for a new military doctrine is just another bandage in our ever lengthening list of bandages.

The constitution is the fulcrum of our laws and the basic parameter for our direction as a people. Citizenship, pride, duties to state, state responsibility, policies, sense of belonging etc all spring from the constitution as the contract between citizen and state. If a citizen cannot locate themselves within the destiny of Nigeria, what would a military doctrine do to re-educate them? A military doctrine should spring from our knowing exactly who we are, where we are coming from and where we are headed.

We keep floundering, because we do not have a profound sense of who we are, there is no definition for what it means to be Nigerian beyond place of birth and passport.

What exactly can we achieve with a new military doctrine without fixing the basics of our existence as a nation?
We have people who don military uniforms, only to aid and abet boko haram, because their sense of citizenship is absent. It is for the same reason we have failures at almost every level, it is for the same reason loud lousiness and treachery are now acceptable. That is why a “Nigerian” would go on a Western press website to ask for the country to be invaded by foreigners.
With the amount of hell and brimstone hauled at Russia, its citizens have remained steadfast. Unwavering.

Sorting out the constitution is an urgent task, let us demand very loudly for the ratification of every item that came out of the National Conference. That would be a great first step.

The issue is that we are not Europeans; traditionalist societies in African and other 3rd world countries are being frog-marched into commercial, industrial and individualist ways of life. In 60 years, we are expected to under go transformations that took centuries to occur in Europe.

We have transitioned through many constitutions. Constitutions are just basis for laws, but without a knowledgeable complaint citizenry and laws enforcement, laws can be overrated.

You brought up this argument in the other thread; Let’s leave this thing. It’s for another blog.

Oga asorockweb, it is only through laws that we can create a united Nigeria. Laws give direction and form the structural frameworks around which progressive societies can be built. Anything else would just be building a patchwork contraption that would always be reactive, rather than proactive; always fighting off internal dissent and always tugged apart in different directions by contending forces that are enmeshed in negative completion. …And mind you, competition will always be negative and self-destructive where there are no rules and due process. Obviously, the only thing that can provide a framework for rules and due process is a solid constitution.

Also, because we have no rules that guarantee due process, dignity and just reward for sweat and honest labour, Nigeria will continue to be labelled “corrupt.” This is even though we are arguably much less corrupt than the majority of the developed world (Italy and its Mafia, for example; the US and the UK with their banks as another).

If 55 years after our Independence we cannot give a cogent reply to the twin questions, “Who is a Nigerian?” and “What is Nigeria?”, then where do we fit in our military doctrine which is one of the fundamental fulcrums of statehood? We cannot attach military doctrine to a vacuum.

Oga asorockweb, most people can certainly not answer the questions “Who is a Nigerian?” and “What is Nigeria?,” because there is no enshrined definition; which is why we have boko haram. ethnic bigotry and sectional bigotry.

It is also due to the lack of a nationally accepted answer to these questions that you say I might not like your individual definition. We should have a national definition that gives each and every one of us a stake in “Nigerianness” as well as a definition for who and what our army should be defending. With a national definition, there would be no need for individual definitions.

If we had those definitions, we wouldn’t have had Biafra, the Niger Delta crisis and boko haram. If we do not have them by 2035, then God help us. The only agent for the definition for “Nigerianness” is a solid constitution from which all other things can flow naturally.

The person that can poison you easiest is the family member who doesn’t believe in you, but lives under the same roof. The same principle applies to nationhood; identity is the bedrock of security and identity is the problem we have yet to tackle even after Biafra, the Niger Delta crisis and the current boko haram issues (all rooted in identity conflicts).

My Oga, we cannot keep avoiding this issue or one day it will drag us where we cannot now imagine. Our available progress in technological and military development are very strongly tied to national and citizen identities. We ignore identity at our own peril.

Ogas Oje , Igbi. Augustine and other ogas it’s time to be proactive instead of reactive after platforms are purchased or units formed. It’s operation build your Nigerian Army pls you guys interact so that others fringe members like me can learn. As oga beegs said we have to learn from the past to build the future based on our uniqueness

Hopefully, nobody is waiting for me to set the ball rolling. I shall compose my own precis in a systematic way sometime between 9pm and 11pm. Don’t need to set any trends. Let everyone speak for themselves as they see fit.

Oga Beeg, Nigeria needs to have a first
line of defence that should be set up to handle issues, such as the insurgency, attack by foreign elements.

The US Marines are the country’s first line of defence. We should ramp up our numbers and pool at least 50,000 – 70,000 men whose sole job it is to engage any aggressor. They should be drafted round the country and their training should be commensurate with their area of responsibility

Let me start by saying that, on the evidence of the rather protracted Boko Haram Insurgency and the near-incapacitation as it pertains to appropriate hardware, that Nigeria appears not to have learnt very much from her military history.

The GLOBAL reality is that asymmetric warfare is currently the mainstay activity of most fighting national armies worldwide. Looking at our anarchical neighbourhood as far as two republics deep in all directions, asymmetric warfare rages on -Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Sudan, Niger, Libya, Mali and Algeria. Some of these countries have been involved in wars with internal aggressors since the 1980s and 1990s. Given the porosity of our borders and the free flow of arms within the region, Nigeria really ought to have been much better prepared for this eventuality.

The Boko Haram Insurgency had already kicked off before short courses in counterinsurgency operations began to be organised to prepare troops. There were no units expressly primed to be the first line of defence in the event of a national security emergency. We did not make those preparations after the conclusion of ECOMOG operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone and paid a steep price for negligence during the Niger Delta Insurgency. This lack of preparation continued to bedevil operations years after the Boko Haram Insurgency commenced.

Part of the reason why the counterinsurgency operations have been convoluted boils down to inadequate preparation for the challenge by way of training. Again, the lessons of the ongoing insurgency and the Niger Delta Gunboat War before now has shown that the insurgents have taken maximum advantage of geography to wreak havoc of the nation.

Indeed, the Niger Delta Insurgency showed that the superior mastery of the forbidding terrain of the massive wetlands region was the principal factor which led to long drawn-out altercations. Today, the insurgents in the Far Northeast have thus far thrived on the strength of their superior knowledge of the desertified frontiers and the mountainous borders.

Even after the Niger Delta Insurgency and the attendant experience of littoral warfare had run its course, it would have been expected that an all-important border region such as the Baga District, should have immediately been earmarked for appropriate deployment given the fact of the four-nation frontier nestled in a ,maritime region. This was not the case, as the place was laid open for potential aggressors and indeed Boko Haram have also thrived on supplies trafficked through that sensitive region which we failed to dominate.

The way forward is that Nigeria must continuously evolve doctrines which adequately draw from the lessons of her military experiences. It is on the strength of this conviction that my vision for the Nigerian Army shall be made.

@Stormslim, that news is in beeg’s front page. The number of the vehicles being transported depends solely on the length of the flat bed trailer. Lemme guess 2x armoured vehicle on 15 trailers equals = 30 armoured vehicles.. Silently hoping they are T90s or the T72s.

Meanwhile, I advocate that the military remove all military personnels from the roadsides(for goodness sake, that’s the police job!) back to the baracks, then further extensive trainings should commence on all forms of warfare(assymetrics, conventional, marksmanship). While kitting our military to the highest standard is ongoing, the ruggedity and the die-hard attitudes of our military should be restored back(remember operation death before dishonor?) by peace enforcement missions only, am fed up with peace keeping where there is no peace to keep.

the boko haram insurgency took some by surprise, we
were not prepared for urban warfare and counter insurgency; cyber warfare I doubt we re anywhere near prepared for it, a dedicated cyber and psychological warfare command should be established so we don’t start running up and down when we face such challenges. thank you!

I do not know where part 1 disappeared to
Part2
For the sake of Arguments let us assume Assymetric warfare is going to be with us for a while.
@the NDA the coin course was rushed through in 2013 and taught as a six month course ,it should be taught as a one year course.
I am going by the adage if you are going to do something do it well apart from the planned SOC.Another smaller division needs to be formed.The 10th division which will consist solely of SF brigades. Three brigades.

Oga beeg,
I am patiently waiting for this election to pass and for the Boko Haram menace to be brought to a stand still.
I want to see the Armed forces commence their joint military exercises that used to drive fear into the heart of all those that witnessed them and pride in the people.
We need soldiers that are proud to be soldiers once again not those who enlist just because they need a paycheck. There is passion for the army all across the nation. It’s quite sad that our air force, navy and army secondary schools are a shadow of their former selves ( They used to be the first recruiting grounds for passionate Nigerians). I quite agree we have to have a stragey to retrain the existing army, but we also have to consider the feeder stock and the modes of recruitment.

On the constitution, some learned people will say the problem with the country is not the constitution but the enforcement of the laws.

My take, we need to review the the recruitment process for the armed forces and get it right. Merit rather than national character supplemented with the proper training and equipment and we will have a formidable fighting force in the next 10-20 years.

This is going to sound controversial but it needs to be said.Nigeria as a matter of defense policy needs to stay out of the peacekeeping biz ,peace enforcment is okay.P.K. effectively robs the army of its combat effectiveness
Any new Army barracks should be located out of town and the entrances should be sloped.
Political this is a must do.The Navy has a champion in Sen Chris.The army needs a political champion.Sen. George Sekibo comes to mind.

To reposition the NA the requitment process must be transparent and less cumbersome.the NA should be reorganised into 7 divs,1mountain warfare,1 desert,1 forest,1 savanna,2 tank divs&1 SF div.traing shld be 9 months;3mnts familirization,3mnts rural warfare,3mnts urban warfare.eabh div shld be 20,000 made up of four 4,000 man brigades 3 combat&1 combat support.all scorpion&T55 should b sold

We Could use the FV101 scorpions, FV107 scimiters and the T-55 tanks for a light tank brigade. The T-55 hull can be use to mount assorted ADS, SPAAG, self propelled artillery. Or we can donate the FV101 and FV107s to the composite (airborne/amphibious) division. We shouldn’t waste them.

The army needs 9 division
An airborne division is urgently needed
The Nda needs to be expanded and the issue if selections based on quotas scraped
There also needs to be laws set up by National Assembly mandating the purchase of certain equipments that can be manufactured in country
The army needs a wholistic approach to training
A new and modern training simulation center should be established, this simulation center would allow other armies to train with our army in an injury or risk free zone

DICON shld get a $100,000,000 upgrade and a $25,000,000 tech asst shld b established with d DPRK whn helped iran,syria,myanmar etc and are not tired of helping.we shld est a weapons research station with $25,000,000.we shld choose a tyre engine design(preferably a pingzeur) and a tank tract design(maybe t55) amoured division shld get 300 tanks and infantry divs shld get 100APCs&150 IFVs all locally made with NK asst.

Make the Army look cool, create lovely pr videos glorifying being a soldier. Engage proper advert managers and pr.
This things arise a feeling of pride and patriotism. Ensure that the military civilian relations are improved. Completely scrap that mentality of entitlement where errant soldiers seem above the law.

-Quota system is killing the military.
The best man for the job should be contracted, sentiments aside.
-Recruitment process should be free and transparent no barriers.
-Engage young, vibrant and chatty officers for effective PR.
-The idea of assigning soilders on all sorts of escorts and guard duties for civilians(why do we have the police?)
-Create more divisions.
-invest more in our intelligence gathering skills
.

My own be say…
Since most of the points stated on this blog are ‘heavily adopted’ and in use presently, might as well recruit some of such persons who are fountains of knowledge here regarding security issues.

Other points of mine are already stated, but few others.

Secrecy: You’d think army was under sanctions like in North Korea or Iran where arms deals purchases and equipment are always hidden far from view of the citizens and the world at large. Correct if wrong, secrecy started during the military regimes or after sanctions by the International community. Democracy kicked in 1999 and no longer sanctioned, its 16 years later. Open transactions and bidding processes should be the norm if we are to progress beyond this stage of self inflicted injuries.

PR: Pictures/videos speak…In the face of a very digital world and social media where information travels fast, we should learn to be bleeding edge to disseminate info from our side. Some of the portrayal we suffered in recent times internationally and by our citizens was due to terrible PR.

In-house production: Countries like Pakistan, Ukraine and co all had the foresight to start their own manufacturing whilst over here it was a free for all. Our GDP outstrips both countries, and as the largest economy in Africa, we can do much better. If need be, poach engineers from other countries/companies with blueprints to develop our own in house stuff. Also the Government should be disturbed until it sees the need for a steel mill. Super alloys and other components would not be easy to get internationally and their sale can be easily blocked by a foreign power.

Training: The last conventional war was probably World war 2 where countries went to war with each other.Navies fighting navy, dog fights or mechanised vs mechanised. Its has become more of ‘grind it out until you wear them off’. In that regards, let us reorient our training towards that aspect of war.

The NN shld get a force of 25,000 with 15,000 made of marines,SBS,and airarm.the sailors shld be 8,000 and divided into brown water(nigerdelta),coastguard&seamen.the navy shld acquire 4 makassar LPDs and 2 type 054frigates.we shld also build 8 1,000 tonne corvettes with help from china and 6 500 tonne subs also

My humble perspective is that the Nigerian army needs to reappraise its training doctrine, its structure, procurement and logistics ought to be modernised, renumeration of soldiers also require re-structuring Another important issue that needs urgent modernization, is the standard issue service rifle of the Nigerian army to reflect modern challenges taking into consideration internal and external threats. If truth must be told, AK47 NA’s current standard issue rifle does not confer any superior firepower on the Nigerian army. While the Brits use modernised versions of the SA80, the USA forces deploy multiple variants of the M16, South African army have the R4 as standard issue rifle. The NA needs to realize that a better equipped soldier is a better fighter, and when you factor recoil, fire rate, reload time, durability, accuracy ratio, stability, and easy of being re-configured for multiple roles; it is of strategic importance for the NA to move away from the sort of rifles easily within reach of potential opponents such as Boko haram or even our neighbours. Nigeria with its growing population, economic prospects, regional standing and other geopolitical calculations will always be in the sights of interest groups who may wish to cause Nigerian harm. While it is important to equip the air force and navy, current and future threats to Nigeria are likely won and lost by ground forces.
In 1991 and 2003, the Iraqi army was no match for the air assets of the US led coalition yet 95 per cent of the battle was fought by land based forces. It is important the NA starts getting its basic srategies right.

All nigerian politicians and our press must realize that the military even in peacetime is a national asset.
NA generals ain’t meant to retire as billionaires, and NA grunts ain’t meant to be any politian’s boy-boy or house boy. Have some. Fcukin# respect, and pay for your own manservants.

NA must realize the importance of logistics. For it is your logisticians that will enable them to successfully overcome terrain in order to then engage the enemy.

Airmobility is crucial. and NA must buy/ built helicopters in the several hundreds, to master this environmental dominating capability.

Make my words, our next conflict, would be a conventional war. Most likely a dispute with one of our envious neighbors will rope in a major player.

In order to drive indigenous military development in such areas as materials research, electronics, IT and applied mathematics, we could have some sort of coordinating body (that is open to scrutiny) to intermarry science development in universities and the private sector with defence. That way, industries and schools can play a role in the development of weaponry to defend the motherland (even at the drop of a hat); conversely, the rigours and fine detail of defence requirements will drive technology (and attractive profits :)) in a beneficial loop.

Such a coordinating body will also be able to mesh military efforts on the field with citizen/social efforts to defend the country from adverse publicity as well as push a Nigeria centric view through forums, the press, messaging campaigns etc. This is related to asymmetric warfare.

Long before 2035, we will also be a highly connected society, so it will be necessary to set up a dedicated cyber warfare unit in the army like the UK did recently with its 77 Brigade.

We should also set up a military research school that is dedicated to very weird (but effective) forms of asymmetric warfare that can harness surprising tools.
There were some quite curious headlines last year about snakes and bee’s making Sambisa Forest uninhabitable for boko haram. If anything, that is a clear pointer to research into weaponising our local fauna, flora etc. There could also be other traditional materials that we could look into.
Just imagine the weird possibility of sending bee’s to disorganise boko haram before the army attacks! Lol! E go be like winsh!

Finally, long before 2035, we must have found answers to our unity/identity problem. As a lesson, just look where Ukraine is today, even though they have a much more powerful army than ours. Without a defined identity, you can have the biggest guns, but still be vulnerable.

It goes without saying, that Nigeria needs to draw on lessons from historic involvements in military conflicts. The question is how and to what extent does history should be allowed to shape the future. In my opinion a complete doctrinal overhaul is required. The loop should look something like Economic Prosperity-Internal Security-Foreign Policy- Force Projection and it should be firmly attached to home grown research and patriotic zeal.

The RFPs coming from the military should carry the best engineering schools in the land along. recruitment should be enlarged to brilliant graduates of STEM discipline, overseas batch training with
Russia.
Knowledge gathering from old soviet region (mainly communist regimes) and south africa

– which way forward for local defence production at DICON and the Special Vehicle Plant?
Strong R&D. Breaking technological barriers. Nigeria has satellites in space for example and school kids dont even know about it.
– what should be the core procurement focus of the Nigerian Army, where should Nigeria acquire her weaponry from, why and what should we seek to gain from these transactions?
The RFPs coming from the military should involve the best engineering schools in the land. recruitment should be enlarged to brilliant graduates of STEM discipline, overseas batch training with
Russia.
Knowledge gathering from old soviet region (mainly communist regimes) and south africa. procurement from similar environments including CHINA

For the special research unit, how do you ensure 100% reliability?. I am asking this very seriously and I am not ridiculing it at all. The problem is that this is all riding on the hypotheses of some extended human physical capabilities that are not fully understood. Yet the pentagon spends tax payers money on remote viewing and other stuff even when they know that that knowledge area is not even codified yet. So eventually some R&D is required in that area if only to attempt to improve reliability…. if it is all found to be faith based then even that becomes a basis for an approach.

There is an undeniable connection between the demographic size, spatial dimensions, settlement patterns and the manpower levels necessary for a fighting army to be able to make a dent in a defined area of responsibility(AOR). It is generally agreed that before now, Nigerian troops were spread too thing in the State of Emergency (SoE) areas of the Far Northeast. Simply, the numbers of deployed troops were just not enough to sustain offensives and hold liberated territories simultaneously.

In the same vein, we do not need to field a disproportionately bloated number of troops who would not be productively engaged at all times.

To strike a balance between need and werewithal in the emplacement of a well trained, optimally deployed and proficiently supplied army, I am led to believe that the ideal size of the Nigerian Army probably lies somewhere between 135,000 and 150,000 officers and men, deployed in eight divisions and two field corps and a division-sized Special Operations Command.

UNIT SIZE

For an invariable standard, let me suggest that we ensure that each platoon has a minimum of three sections of 35 men and each company has a minimum of four platoons and that each infantry battalion has a MINIMUM of six companies – for a battalion strength of 840 officers and men.

Let us have Engineers Regiments with three squadrons of 175 men each for a regimental total of 525 men and Artilley Regiments with three 175-man batteries of six howitzers each for a regimental total of eighteen howitzers and 525 men. The manning and equipment levels of armoured squadrons and battalions should be kept in line with the foregoing.

DEPLOYMENT

Let me restate my belief that the NA should be realigned as follows while advocating for the creation of some new divisions.

* 1 Mechanised Division with its HQ at Kaduna and with formations spread in Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Nasarawa and Jigawa States.

– taking off with Div Hq and 3 Bde. Two new brigades to be formed. A mechanised brigade at Katsina and an artillery brigade with its HQ at Hadejia

* 2 Mechanised Division with its HQ at Ibadan and with its formations spread into Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Kwara, Ekiti and Edo States.

– takes off with 22 Bde, 32 Bde and 4 Bde. New infantry brigade to be formed at Ado Ekiti.

* 3 Armoured Division with HQ at Jos and deployed in Plateau, Taraba, Bauchi and Gombe States

– takes off with 33 Bde. An armoured brigade with HQ at Gombe to be formed. 23 Armoured Bde HQ to be moved to Jalingo.

* 82 Division with HQ at Enugu and formations spread into Benue, Kogi,Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Imo and Abia States

– takes off with 14 Brigade and 34 Brigade. An infantry brigade with HQ at Makurdi and a mechanised brigade with HQ at Abakiliki to be formed.

* 81 Division with HQ at Lagos and formations spread out across Lagos and Ogun States

* 7 Division with HQ at MDGR and formations in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno States.

– 5 Bde, 12 Bde, 21 Bde and 37 Bde. An infantry brigade should be stationed to the north of MDGR while 21 Bde covers MDGR and southern Borno.

PROPOSED

* 11 Amphibious Division with HQ at CALABAR and with formations spread out across Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States

– takes of with 13 Bde and 2 Bde. A artillery brigade should be formed in Delta/Bayelsa/Akwa Ibom.

* 24 Armoured Division with HQ at Sokoto and formations spread into Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara and Niger States

– takes off with 1 Brigade and 31 Brigade. Two armoured brigades to be formed in Kebbi and Zamfara.

For these eight divisions, there shall be two Field Army Corps, each commanded by a GOC-in-Chief who shall wear the rank of Lieutenant General.

My question to you Beeg: with all the above listed – mechanized, armored, amphibious units, what do you project as ideal numbers and types of MBTs, IFVs, APCs, MRAPs, artillery guns? Would also like to know your thoughts on army air calvary?

Its not just by allocating units arbitrarily on paper. The question we should be asking now is what sort of treats do we see in those localities in the future, the best way to defeat the threats bearing in mind lessons learned from all these crises, then we can start allocating resources to counter the threat.

Now i noticed that one of the major problems in tackling the problem now especially in the early stages in inter service rivalry. The best way to curb this is to carve out unified commands…so we can have a north eastern command or just a northern command which could be an army or a NAF officer. He will have operational command of say 2xdivs and 2xNAF strike groups. This will solve the problem of field commanders having to contact HQ NAF before using air assets which was a major bureaucratic challenge in this war.
Apart from special task forces, Nigerian Armed Forces does not have any headquarters which is joint in peace time. If we can train these HQs in peace time, they won’t function well in war time. Now you’ll notice that the ORBAT will have a top-down approach, from the MOD to DHQ to the services. other functional commands could be the SOCOM, Nigeria Space Command, Training Command (for joint training), and maybe a logistics command. These unified commanders will report operationally directly to the HMOD or to the C-in-C. The service chiefs are to train and equip their service personnel in the various commands, however, they still remain the most senior in their respective services. The advantage this model has is that the unified commander bears the heat more than anyone else, he should fight his battle and he will be in the best position to brief the c-in-c in a more honest manner. the service chiefs will carry out their staff roles (as their name implies) to the c-in-c and the parliament.
It is much more elaborate than this though, this is just the tip. Militaries have evolved in organization snd the way to fight, we need that too.

Statutorily, there shall be a General and eight Lt Generals in the new NA. The Chief of Army Staff shall wear the rank badge of a four-star general while conceding three months seniority to the Chief of Defence Staff.

Concerning the commander of the Army Engineers, don’t you think he/she should be a Major General?
I say this because the Engineers corps don’t generally have the numbers in terms of officers. If we require that the commander of Army engineers is always a 3-star, the corps might suffer from rank dilution.

There shall be for the Nigerian Army, a Special Operations Command at AHQ level, headed by a Major General, designated as the GOC, Special Operations Command and comprised of the following organic untis

– five special forces battalions
– a mountain battalion
– a desert warfare bn
– a combat engr regt
– an artillery regiment
– a recce battalion
– a mechanised battalion
– a War Dog detachment
– a Gunboat Company
– an Air Mobile Company

It will be our firstline of defence in all cases of asymmetric operations and the formations under the SOCOM shall be grouped as follows:

Oga Beeg, i think i have an observation regarding these units. A special forces battalion should be able to operate in various environment…i mean that’s what makes them special. What I’m trying to say is that a special forces battalion should be in their elements be it in a mountain, desert, jungle or urban terrain. So categorizing a unit as mountain battalion defeats the purpose in my opinion. The danger of doing this is that if the insurgency is in a desert area, the mountain battalion wouldn’t be able to support.

2015 -2035 visioning is almost impossible.
There are issues of nationhood which would be resolved easily provided the economy is good. Very annoyingly intuitive to many but it is quite TRUE. Nigeria got her independence without blood shed mainly because there were rich farmer, traders and an expanding middle classical in the sixties. We got independence when things were good so if we are lucky and we take care of the economy, share the gains well amongst all demographics all NATIONHOOD ISSUES willbe resolved with shouting and debating but no bullets.

Do looking far out into 2035 and assuming nationhood issues have been resolved early and we have defined the ‘Nigerian’, the following are the externally impelled challenges or THREATS that the armed forces should be transforming now to tackle in future;
1. HIGH TECH INSURGENCY
Expect more Shekaus but of a more technological bent and a wider spectrum of terrorist activities.
This would call for more sophisticated surveillance technology and fusion of sensors and platforms- sattelite, aircraft, marine and ground based systems.

2, PREVALENCE OF 4.5GEN AIRCRAFT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
Our neighbors will not wait to feed themselves and develop in all human development indices before fielding high tech combat aircraft. Indeed I predict that in the next ten years, token numbers of SU 34/35, J20 and the Rafale will have established their presence on the airspace within north/west africa calling for appropriate response from Nigeria. This would have to be done in a proactive way. The office of the DIA should be properly expanded and funded and should also have a dotted line relationship with the NSA office. Nigeria should have indicted and matured platforms like SU 45 and PAK FA by 2020. We should have been co producing the JF 17 Block 2 with 40% local value add by 2025. JF 17 Block 2 may just be a low intensity warfare aircraft as early as 2020.

Yes, I had that in mind BUT with eight divisions and a division-sized SOCOM eight engineer brigades, three combat engineer regiments, two construction regiments, two survey regiments and dozens of cantonment/barracks maintenance groups. Put together, we could have as many as 18,000-20.000 men in those 23 regiments and over 100 barracks/cantonment maintenance groups.

Firstly, am not a strategist so i will be more “civilic”. To me, some ogas here are a ‘ruthless’ strategist. The Military can incorporate some of them as “civilian adviser”—pardon that word— in situatiön like this. I do tell my people that “BH is a blessing in disguise”. If not for them, we would still be boasting we have all the assest to police our land. The Insurgency has revealed the “lapses and gaps” in the military that needed to be covered ASAP. We are just waking up, and this taste good. Now, we are modernizing and re-positioning at a faster rate. To the NN, please you guys need to incorporate “missile” capable ships into the fleets. Even if it’s a canoe with missile firing capability, we dont mind.It has gotten to that stage please. I think we need a dedicated DEAD(Destroy Enemy Air Defense) unit in this country. Some will argue we have NAF, yes! but their work will be similar to NAF(that isn’t a reduplication. We dont need to make the same mistake we made when our Army liberated a town and still saddled with the responsibility of “holding” that same town ) and the unit will be crafted out of NAF. The mission of DEAD unit(a SF of NAF) will be solely in conventional warfare. They should be the FLoAD(First Line of Air Defense) paving way for NAF. We have a situation in Libya which call for a proactive work. A DEAD unit should have 4th gen. Aircrafts with AWACs.
Also, we need to build our Air Defense structure across the country esp in Abuja. SAMs should be stationed at strategidb places so we wont compromise our defense. In a situation where NAF is unable to quickly intercept an “hostile” aircraft, our ADS will be put on course to blown such to ‘thy kingdom come’. Forget about our neighbours, we need to plan for the future. Our acquisition by the three forces must be in tune with FUTURE THREAT and not our immediate threat. My impossible but ATTAINABLE submission.

i do not quite understand OGA ARE JAMES “S POINT OGA BEEGS and I hereby categorically state I am not trying literally to pick a fight by 2030 . Nigeria WILL have $>1Trillion + economy we will also have a population of 200 million + And the generations of families we have will not be hung up on nationhood/ distant CIVIL WAR MEMORIES/tribalism and all that rubbish because people will be living much closer to one another and also be a lot more educated. They will be more interested into transforming Nigeria into a first world economy, and more importantly judging by even the most pessimistic reports there will be 24 hour power supply.
Even going by the template of the Navy’s 10 year strategic plan, regardless of whether it is Buhari or Jonathanlet us focus on the next 10 years starting from just going into 2015-2016.
This is almost certain to happen
1)+ One additional division of SOC IN YEAR 0
2) This is already happening under Jonathan T-72 This is implying an expansion of the armoured division ( this is in year 0)
3) More Helios m-17s / mi35 the only question is will there be an air ARMY UNIT?
4) For the Navy expect a missile armed frigate in 2015/2016
if this is happening in year 0 what do you thin is going to happen in 2025 just ten years from now?
I predict in 10 years very few countries will want to willingly tangle with Nigeria a lot of who are really unstable cobbled together by one man dictatorships.
GEJ has pledged that we will / have invited 5 DEFENCE COMPANIES TO SET UP SHOP
THIS WILL IMPLY:
Nigeria will manufacture it’s own tanks, pgms, tear gas and possibly planes
BUHARI coming to power will see like wise Nigeria’s first tank, pgms, and possibly helios there is not going to be much difference between the two candidates in terms of procurement aand development to the surprise of most Nigerians

My Ogas have touched on all of the important points, while my own submission would be focused on the equipment procurement and establishing partnership. Before I proceed, a short story of the US and Nasa spending tons of money developing a pen that would work in space, then cost a sh**tload of money to produce. The Russians? They brought pencils.

The moral of the story is this, our strategic alignment in terms of military assets should be looking east for ALL our assets with a sole aim of getting the best, be it Russian or Chinese assets.

Elsewhere, Daniel McCabe (an American) wrote:
————–
“There was a big dust up a few months ago about the Iraqi Air Force getting some Russian heavy lift helicopters and some Senators were furious that the money wasn’t going to US defense contractors. As I listened to the story I got progressively more angry at the politicians. Even our military thought the best helicopter for the job was the Russian aircraft – for many reasons including lower cost, easier maintenance, smaller logistic footprint, greater simplicity, and crucially: their Air Force was already trained on how to operate them!

The USA has the best toys when it comes to military hardware – but there is a reason the Russian AK-47 is the most common rifle on earth: it works. Anywhere, in any circumstances, when beat up, when not maintained: it just works. Tough, simple, reliable. Iraq doesn’t need all the most complicated wiz-bang bullshit, they need stuff that will work and that they can realistically operate. Our stuff is too complicated and too expensive to expect Iraq to actually keep it functioning.

I hope these hardy Russian machines help them turn the tide.”

————–

On a final note, I believe that moving forward, for a nation with highest GDP in Africa, our military procurements should come with skills transfer backed up with a viable plan to establishing a local assembly and getting actively involved in the manufacturing process. Whatever we identify as a potential purchase, we should be willing to go the whole mile, the era of buying equipments in piecemeal should be truncated henceforth. We have Steel, there is nothing stopping us from making use of our God-given resource for the advancement of our lot militarily.

The Nigerian Military that started this war is no longer the same, they have moved on and are still on the move. The lessons learned are quite interesting covering all aspects of the Nation. the first lesson is that Nigerian Nation and Nigerian military must be one and their must be joint ownership of all events.
This new synergy between the Military and civil populace seeing them “Sir knights” must not be lost. For the first time Nigerians are seeing the military as practically defending the Nigerian state/people on the home grounds, not in some far away land, but a mutually accepted enemy BH ( not a politically triggered civil war of brothers against brothers The military must also acknowledge the civilians that rose up to support them in the fight ( CJTF). The military must draw on this renewed. The other big lesson is that we must not stall the Manufacturing process we have started, It is one of the great rewards of the sacrifices of our gallant men. We must draw up targets that exceed the current events, based on the policy that when all the chips are down ” We are on our own” , same lesson was learned during the Ebola criss, No wonder drugs from US or anybody, ingenuity of attacking the symptoms and treating with antibodies found in the blood of healed patients.
We are going to be a world power / regional power, we must be united first as a nation, all our neopolitism is based on scrambling for crumbs from the table of politicians from all tribes who never fight as long as they are sharing the Gari This blog demonstrates that we can overcome this division and forge forward as one.
Budgeting for maintenance and operating costs is very important as we have seen, we are better off with equipments in numbers we are able to maintain and dispatch for constant exercises to keep training and operational standards, all the hard wear purchased for the NE campaign must be kept in operational.
For air assets which are the most expensive, the problem with larges purchases by non manufacturing countries is that the numbers are there but the serviceability and dispatch reliability is low due to bad maintenance and in some cases expenses, we need adequate airframe numbers to be operationally deployed and sufficient crew to carry out optimum flight experience to meet international standard of proficiency this is the jewel ( the main Vietnam era was a Col Tomb of the N.Vietnamese Airforce, he flew a technically inferior Mig17 against the American Phantoms , (the best of for their time) and scored 13 kills. training flights and appropriate sorties cost money, standard must be brought up, using less costly but modern Trainer/light strike aircrafts to actively build up pilot flight hours/experience before they can earn a place in the heavy metal squadrons. The cutting edge technology found in aircrafts are constantly evolving and changing, ” very modern today, becomes obsolete the next day , if we buy too big numbers without projecting for the future , we might have a large number of obsolete equipment. when combat comes, we need decent numbers with lots of reserve and capable crew/operators that can step up for front line activities to man aircraft if we find ourselves in a conflict situations and we need to increase the number of equipment/assets.
The civilian business men are best to source, obtain capability to go into armament manufacture, we must also consider a system of national guard to absorb young people in their areas of speciality and core competence ( weekend warriors) – Engineers, Doctors, nurses and even pilots, after all that was done by the federal side during the Biafran civil war. We need to adapt, improvise and overcome.

Not to get lost in the requirements for NAF even though the need for integrated responses to threats will always colour how the army we look since they must always work with the NAF and NN, Let me attempt some broad strokes for the NA.
1. An army of University and polytechnic graduates at a minimum.
This is not only because technology is evolving fast but also because initiative, pro activeness and situational awareness is increasingly being called upon from the Nigerian Army. As we speak, the training being given to rank and file soldiers going for peace keeping operations will rival any university class in conflict resolution. Gradually as the standard of education improves we can ease off on the stringent educational requirements.
2. A Nine Division army is supported.
As per @Lordfej and @Beegeagle an airborne division and a SOCOM being prominent in the mix.
Orbat should include at least 500MBTs, 1000IFVs, 1000 APCs, 500 Nigerian made and maintained gun boats and lots of MRAPs. All military rotor craft in the class of MI 35Ms and MI 28N which would be nearing obsolescence by 2035 should be owned (even from now) by the Nigerian Army Aviation Corps. The NAF should be purely fixed wing and space warfare force.
3. Military Industrial Complex and Defence Research
I would advise against setting up government owned research centers for the simple resin that people just don’t work creatively when they are not challenged and the unfortunate possibility that defence related R&D funds may be wasted.What government should do is nurture private companies to go into defence manufacturing with a large government funded research component in a highly competitive environment. Nigerians are very creative and competitive people.
The USAF does the same with air superiority fighters setting up healthy rivalry between two sets of groups of companies in the development of technologies and awarding the procurement contract to the group that wins the technical demonstrator evaluation competition. This can be done for almost any type of defence article,

I agree with so many of your points here. Particularly detaching civil defence to DHQ. The idea of having geographic commands is also very good. However, in my opinion these commands should be triservice formations.

For the purpose of financing such a huge military:
2.5% cooperate tax should go to military budget
3% of all solid mineral earnings go to military budget
0.5% PAYE tax (that means every one working) go to military budget
Commercialization of DICON

The main duty of an army is to hold or defend land including land surrounded water bodies, or to take over, occupy and hold similar territory by force, subduing any opposition existing on such territory.

In modern day ground forces warfare, a balanced army is essential for victory. Every missing component will lead to casualties, loss of territory, or failure of objective/missions, or ultimate defeat. The Nigerian army needs a holistic transformation between 2015 A.D. to 2035 A.D. and must cover the whole force make up.

The army is the man, his training, and his equipment or armament.

A. Manpower Recruitment :
With the painful experiences of some deserting, cowardice, mutiny, and poor morale experienced during the Boko Haram insurgency, it is time to purge the army of men who do not intend to fulfill their service oath. Voluntary resignation should be demanded after the ongoing war, soldiers not willing to die in circumstances where death is ‘natural’ for army personnel should quit the force and be discharged from service.

B. Manpower Training :
Nigerian army must split training into two compulsory branches, conventional warfare and asymmetric/counter insurgency warfare training. Competence in both is essential.

Modernization of training at the National Defence Academy should include the creation of a northern and southern National Training Center on vast area of land for different types of terrain warfare in Nigeria.

National Training Center, NTC will need trainers who have to be trained on how to train soldiers in simulated combat scenarios. The NTC is a majorly a battlefield simulation theatre.
At the NTC, simulation of real war scenarios and firings will include role playing, soldiers against soldiers, groups dressed as terrorists or conventional enemy versus the ‘army’.
Simulated ambushes, medevac, convoy lanes, IED attacks, booby traps, grenade attack, etc.

Ammunition will be blanks and duds.
Practice to high skill levels in the shoot house.
Buildings have to be constructed to simulate urban warfare. Jungle like vegetation must be available naturally.
Tactics and techniques for room clearing, corral houses, glass houses virtual buildings with no walls, mazes, etc must be used.
Dummy human targets to show hits and kills must be available.

Training must involve the modern technique of ‘Miles On Miles’, laser tag mini-aprons on every soldiers shoulder/neck will trigger alarm when the wearer is hit by a blank bullet, it shows who has died in battle. Also, the ‘Man Marker Rounds’ must be used, non-lethal but painful bullets, they will show red marks on soldiers hit in battle simulation. The bullet will embed harmlessly but painfully on exposed skin, faces are protected by neoprene masks. This is modern day army training.

Results will show dead privates, sergeants, captains, colonels, generals and the insurgent role players/enemy troops in the real war simulations.

Nigerian army can know it’s likely casualties before real war comes. The current high rate of combat casualties among officers in Boko Haram war would have been discovered and prevented by correction training at the NTC, which does not currently exist in Nigeria.

Exercises And Live Ordnance Firing –
Inter-service and Inter-corp exercises. Large scale and small scale.
Operation Sea Dog 30 years ago, was the last real exercise of the Nigerian army in 1985, and lessons from this prepared the army for 1990 ECOMOG victory. The lack of such major fulls scale exercises for the past 30 years made the army to discover it’s weaknesses only on the field of battle face to face with Boko Haram.

Small and medium scale regimental exercises must be an annual event while inter-service or major inter-corp exercises will be periodic as deemed appropriate. Inter-service exercise will involve the army, navy and air force. Inter-corp and Intra-corp will be between army regiments.

C. Manpower size
Number of equipment will influence size, as vehicle and equipment operators deplete numbers available for dismounted troops on foot.

A regular force of 150,000 men minimum is ideal for Nigeria.
A fully trained, and periodically re-trained, part-time wages paid reserve force of 250,000 men minimum, as part-time soldiers ready for call up at few days notice is recommended.
This guarantees at least a battalion of soldiers for each local government area, theoretically.

D. Manpower quality
Less emphasis on extra-extra academic paper qualifications, more emphasis on soldiers knowledge and display of battlefield craft and tactics during field exercises, this should be part of the basis for promotion to the next rank.

IFV amphibious, high speed, all modern capabilities, high calibre/heavy firpower armament. Infantry fighting vehicle is a most vital COIN asset.

ATGM. The Nigerian infantry men must have sufficient anti-tank guided missiles both shoulder held and vehicle mounted sizes. One type/make for each size.

MBT, main battle tank must be minimum ERA armour for COIN warfare and must be Composite armour for conventinal warfare.

The ERA is 2nd generation and obsolescent, best deal is gradually phase them out and by 2035 only composite armour MBTs should be in NA service and just one single type, not a mixed bag.

The Nigerian army must acquire 3rd generation tanks as these beastly tanks have become the new king of combat globally, shells, bombs, rockets, missiles no longer penetrate good composite armour tanks that have all round composite armour protection.

An enemy with 3rd generation composite armour MBTs will drive through the entire arsenal and firepower of the Nigerian army today and park at the doorsteps of Aso Rock Villa, unstoppable by NA, NAF, NN, NPF, SSS or whatever weapon/force exists in Nigeria.

The answer to an enemy composite armour MBT is your own composite armour MBT. This gaping weakness in Nigeria’s army must be plugged as soon as possible.

Artillery should be basically one type of each among other needs –
105mm howitzer towed
155mm howitzer towed, and 45 cal should replace 39 cal
SPHA 155mm self propelled artillery
MRLS short range, medium range and very long range multiple rocket launcher systems should suffice.

Air defence should be one type of each among other needs –
SPAAG anti-aircraft cannon systems
Towed anti-aircraft cannon with targeting/guidance systems
MANPAD SAMs, short range, medium range, and long range surface to air missiles
C-RAM anti-missile, anti-ordnance defence capability is a must
GBADS intergrated air defence system is a must

The above list is NOT all that a modern army needs, it is just a small list to show areas where standardization of types is needed to avoid too many mixed bags of duplicated equipment of different origin and manufacture, and also to show gaps in arsenal needs that should be filled.

3. Army air arm or aviation. The army should operate it’s own helicopters and armed drones.
4. Amphibious regiment must have the boat or water craft fleet that can operate in all water bodies across Nigeria, from Niger Delta to Lake Chad.

5. The army of the 21st century must have Tactical Data-links communication system fully integrating the entire force, enabling secure and complete network of information exchange real time and effective for combat management in a wide battle space.

6. Electronic Warfare Units. A new arm that will incorporate the modern technology of ECM, ECCM, ESM must be built up to 21st century standards.
7. Cyber Warfare units for web/internet operations, hackers and all must be trained to meet any challenges of the day.

8. PR units, a world class PR machinery must be built to project/promote the public image of the army, and record it’s events, activities, wars, history, while working out means of broadcasting such to the world at large.
9. Languages. French and Arabic speaking units must be created in brigade sizes.
10. Multinational joint training alliances with friendly nations must be explored.

11. Equipment upgrades and periodic state of the arsenal review/audit committees.

12. By 2035 A.D. the Nigerian army and presidency must be in secure command of a small nuclear weapons arsenal and ballistic missiles. There is need for deterrent against powerful states that can match or surpass Nigeria’s growing conventional combat capabilities.

Nigeria needs an army that may not be as large as that of a super power, but possesses what it takes to deter a super power from aggression against Nigeria and our national interests or territorial integrity.

In its 25 years of fighting the Nigerian army has learnt to contain the enemy as seen in the Liberian operations,what we have not learnt is how to evolve with the current times with regards to equipment upgrades,ordinance should be upgraded in a systematic manner. Take for instance the tanks we use need upgrades for the armor used and the fire controls should be automated .
TRAINING
Soldiers should undergo basic infantry training at the depot,soldiers that are observed to have special qualities can be drafted to special forces units where they will undergo a one year special training .

Special Artillery units
This units should be equipped with drones that can be used for target acquisition,the artillery fire controls should be automated for accuracy of strikes and quick response .

For me the size of the Nigerian army should be 230,000 with a reserve force of 30,000. Take for instance if we had another insurgency say on the east the army would be over stretched. The sheer size of the Nigerian population made me estimate this number more barracks should be Built not jus FOBs .

DOCTRINE
The doctrine of the Nigerian army should be such that the battle is taken to the domain of the enemy,inflicting pain to the enemy in his domain which will reduce civilian casualties .
The doctrine should be such that enemy command and control is hit with accuracy using air strikes.

FIELD EXERCISES
Every year units should carry out exercise twice a year with the use of combined forces,training should also be done with sister nations to help in future coordination .

PROCUREMENT OF ARMS
Nigeria should buy arms that can be easily maintained,some of the parts can be manufactured here but we need to make the environment conducive for the manufacturing to take place we must be able to do upgrade and modifications ourselves . DICON: this should be the Engine room of the arms of the Nigerian army but sadly it is not,they must begin to partner with countries like China who can transfer technology to us and we in turn should customize it

Oga drag_on if it’s genuine, it’s like NAF version of DICON or NIGERDOCK, the others focus on army and navy needs. NAF has AFIT already, so this R & D center was unknown. Can anyone confirm authenticity?

Thank you for emphasizing again net centricity and cyberwarfare. By 2035. we would be having the ” internet of everything” and even such things as rifles and guns may be connectable and operable in ways like we never saw before. Robots will be doing a lot of things on the battlefield and there is no way groups like ISIS and Boko Haram would still be operating like they are now. Their suffering groups would be cyber warfare savvy terror groups.
Nigeria needs to be making moves to acquire the competencies required now.

Thank you for emphasizing again net centricity and cyberwarfare. By 2035. we would be having the ” internet of everything” and even such things as rifles and guns may be connectable and operable in ways like we never saw before. Robots will be doing a lot of things on the battlefield and there is no way groups like ISIS and Boko Haram would still be operating like they are now. Their successor groups would be cyber warfare savvy terror groups.
Nigeria needs to be making moves to acquire the competencies required now.

I think education is very important in order to build a powerful military and a powerful country, moreover this is the field in which I can contribute the most, so I would just like to contribute this:

There is one technology which we should rapidly start reproducing, it is the electronic reader.
Believe me it is amazing. Put that in the hands of a kid and come back in 3 weeks, he would have read 3 books by then. I am actually using one ereader called Kobo aura h20, to read my PDFs thanks to a software (koreader) which I installed on it. I am tired of seeing black people carrying useless tablets which are only good for entertainment while very few black people buy ereaders. Also don’t confuse the ereaders and the tablets, the ereaders use an electronic ink which makes its screen exactly like a paper.

Here is a video explaining what ereaders are:

Buy an ereader for your kids and for yourself.
Let us start making ereaders, it is not too difficult.

Oga Beegs you have set out a good framework and have even filled in a lot of the details.

Let me add my thoughts to what you already have

Unit Capabilities Transparency
This is key if the NA is to sustain a high level of funding after the BH crisis is over.
Politicians have to know the capabilities that they are paying for and how it translates to the safety of the public and power projection.

Standardization in equipment
For example, the NA should number their vehicle types based on functionality and then decide which make or model will be used for the vehicle types. This would work much better if the gov’t creates a state owned armament procurement company.

Standardization in Unit capabilities
Unit types should be designed and standardized with each unit type having a pre-defined set of capabilities. With predefined sets of capabilities, then we can start holding yearly unit qualification exercises.

Specialization and Specialization Currency.
Similar to standardized unit capabilities, individual soldiers should have a specialty (this is already the case in the NA.)
What we have to add is more stringent testing and training to ensure that individuals stay current.

Distribution of risk and workloads across all Divisions
A situation where particular units do all the fighting and all the dying should be avoided.
There are a couple of ways to achieve this.
1) Task Force Divisions. In the case of the BH crisis, two task force divisions could be created using men and equipment from other divisions. These TF Divs will be tasked with assisting the resident div (in this case 7 Div).
2) redistribution of AORs. A radial pattern could be used to divide AORs.
3) Using Brigades as the top level fighting unit.

Defence HQ Ordinance Depot
Create an Armed Forces Ordinance depot under Defence HQ.
After standardization has been established, it can then be possible to create stockpiles of munitions and equipment. That means that the chief of the Air Force will not have to tell his pilots “only use the PGM when you think it’s a high value target”. Wars have to be funded directly by the FG, war budgets should not be managed by the chiefs.

Air Mobility and/or Portability for the SOCOM
This is key. IF your best troops are not at the edge of the battle within “x” hours, there will be no choice but to use non-specialized troops.

I would like to articulate a little bit more on financing:
1) 2.5% cooperate tax
2) 5% solid mineral revenue
3) 0.5% PAYE (everyone making a living one way or the other)
4) 2%-3% from yearly sovereign wealth funds
5) 0.5% from annual states allocation
6) Commercialize production of military platforms
7) Regular defense budget allocation
My Ogas this would be enough to fund all military capital expenditures, improve military standard of living, and make the military a competing regional power for generations to come.

great thread marshal beegs. hopefully its impact on the operational and strategic vision of the army will yield some pointed successes.
from a professional point of view, i will break these strategic visions into blocs and sections.
orbat, troops welfare, media, training, war materiel and acquisitions, R&D, training and field exercises. i m really happy that the army is moving at great heights. yes more needs to be done, and we are seeing great progress with the armed forces.

in defence procurement matters, i often compare nigeria with germany and japan. these are countries with huge population and large economies, yet they are no where near top 5 in the world’s most powerful armed forces. these countries have everything to propel them to top 5 but lack just one thing, political willpower. for historical reasons, they have decided to remain soft and without the big military stick.
nigeria is in the same position, despite having the largest economy and population in africa, we are no where near egypt or algeria in terms of armament or south africa in terms of military industrial complex.

the fortunate part of this NE insurgency is that it has awaken the military leadership to their primary responsibility and also showed the civilian leadership their total and crass ignorance of military related issues. thankfully, we are making good progress on all fields, including the slumbering media ops too.

ORBAT
our military size does not need to expand too large in terms of numbers. yes we have over 170 million people, and yes we have a large land mass. however, there is surely no need for a half a million men under arms during peace time (including the WoT, police action, and PSOs). except we are planning to overrun the entire continent, and move into europe and the middle east too, there should be no reason to have more than 200k officers and men for the armed forces.
from a professional point, i would say the NA shouldnt even exceed 150k.

seven or eight divisions should be ok. anything more than eight should have corps or military districts. with the result that we either have one star generals commanding divs and 2 star gens commanding corps. or 2 star gens commanding divs and 3 star gens commanding corps or mil districts, with the resultant 4 star general rank for the COAS (the CDS would remain 4 star too. we dont have the size for a 5 star gen for any army in africa, with the exception of the egyptian armed forces.
so we are looking at seven divisions, with a div for each geo region

I want to touch on a role that Nobody has touched on
The role of the office of the National Security Adviser ( ONSA), Directorate of Sate security ( DSS),Military intelligence (DMI) SSS , D.I.A. , the Role of Female Intelligence officers, Female Suicide bombers,
As we seethe death throes of bh We see the increasing desperate measures of bh to turn to female Suicide bombers , while gruesome, military wise it is just to sow fear, and spread panic, it also in it’s own highlights ASS—- taking advantage of something missing in our system of Intel.
The role of FEMALES
In INTEL there has to be an acceptance that Nigeria over a long period of time needs to recruit more females, i discussed certain things with my wife and i came to the conclusion that there are certain a woman well trained in MILITARY MATTERS will know and foresee in another female perpetrator before a man does.
We live in a fairly conservative society and whether it is in the North , South, East, or West. Men are loath to even search women let alone go into heavy interrogation that a Fellow WOMAN WOULD HAVE NO QUALMS DOING.
This administration under Gej has started the ball rolling in terms of recruiting more women but there efforts need to be stepped up not just because of suicide bombers but because this conflict and any future conflicts will involve them.
INTEL
There is no question ONSA, DMI need to get their act together database wise to create a fusion center where sensitive information , is centralized, shared and acted upon, just knowing someone is a threat to Nigeria and is known to the Army Intel but not to the ONSA or DSS for instance is futile .Information that includes act upon information needs to be done quarterly how is this done?
This is done quarterly the office of the ONSA under the NSA ( CHAIR) should meet Jan 2, April 2,
July 2 , and Oct 2, where they meet not just to share Information, but to stratergize, argue , agree , this work , this does not work implement new actions and more importantly work together it is important these intel organizations work together ,we have seen what happens when the NA AND THE NAF work together.

My humble contribution: I think we could borrow a thing or two from the west, particularly the British and Americans. These include:
1) The establishment of a new Special Ops capable Airbone Brigade under 82 Div in place of the 7 2nd Airborne Battalion. Each Div could equally have its own composite Airbone Battalion.

2) Establishment of Rotor aircraft mobility wings (transport helos) for NAF stationed closed to the proposed Airborne battalions. And the purchase of MORE transport helicopters oh!!

3) The establishment of a Joint Helicopter Command where Army, Airforce, Navy, and even Police can pool their fleets together, just like the British. It will equally be great if we see NAF pilots and helos support law enforcement operations in built up urban environments (NAF helos loaded with Police ATS/CTU operators).

4) The establishment of 160th Special Ops Aviation Regiment styled unit in support of Tier 1 and 2 Special Forces units

5) Current Tier 1 Special Ops operators (SBS, etc) are far to few. So I recommend the establishment of a Ranger/Commando styled battalion or Brigade for Direct Action and possibly recon operations. This units could equally serve as QRF teams ready to support Tier 1 units. The initially proposed Special Ops capable Airborne Brigade/Battalions could easily serve this purpose.

6) Since we rely heavily on ground vehicles, the establishment of a mobility Squadron (similar to G – Squadron of the British SAS) OR a LRRP team (like the Sri-Lankans) within Nigerian Army Special Forces may not be a bad idea. Equip them with Specially built Toyota Land cruiser pickups, each armed with HMGs or AGLS, GPMGs, and ATGMs , and UNIMOG trucks, both vehicle types equipped with Long Range or SATCOM radios, and let them lose behind enemy lines in the NE to gather intelligence or cause mayhem like their British predecessors during the Gulf wars.

7) We need to reinforce our intelligence gathering capabilities that support front line troops. We need more ISR platforms, better trained intel analysts, better trained field officers within NIA, dSS, DIA, and Police IB, equipped with the necessary tools to perform their duties.

Coherent foreign policy and determine place of Military in such policy, Armed Civil Defense force for homeland protection , Must state by state. Frontline troops and logistics capable of extremely rapid deployment of 2 combat brigades supported with combined arms or armor, air support and arty, Navy able to project power up and down the coast of west Africa, Regional air superiority . Determine long term strategic threats and orient Army , Navy and Air force to counter them. The Obvious states that our biggest internal strategic threat are tribal based insurgencies, our biggest external strategic threat is France (all others line up behind them). The details will come out of the Foreign policy and the threat assessment. Local Military Industry complex is non negotiable, Cyber warfare command needed asap, coherent , multilayer air defense doctrine to be combined with air superiority strategy, Large human intelligence network everywhere in ther world, where there is a black man there must be a Nigerian Intelligence handler working out of the embassy or consulate creating assets, where there are no black men bribe or persuade friendly natives to your cause (Cause will be defined by foreign policy).

Long term consider dissolving states created using Tribal identity and use other metric to create states.

It really has to do with specialization on a very in-depth scale. I had considered leaving this as a SF subset of skills but it does not engender adequate focus and might not help the cause of optimal provisioning.

First of all, along our frontier with Cameroon, we have a span of mountainous borders spanning about 1,200km while the largely desertified frontier between Abadam in Borno and Arewa LGA of Kebbi spans 1,500km. The task is daunting enough to warrant the emplacement of specialist units for all time. Nigeria will not relocate from its current position and we shall always have to operate in these places.

The same kind of thinking probably underpinned the emplacement of specialised amphibious brigades in the Niger Delta where there exists a wetlands region which is larger than Holland and Belgium put together.

Given that preamble, it can be seen that if we have a mountain and a desert warfare battalion, the SF units will only need to bring the force multiplier effect to bear on their efforts whenever such battalions are critically challenged.

This model is already operable in the Niger Delta where SF commandos work in tandem with amphibious forces, bringing SF versatility to the task while the amphibious forces shore up the numbers for them in turn. The size of desertified and mountainous frontiers ensures that there is always going to be a critical need for steep levels of manpower requirement.

Again, a full-strength 900-strongth mountain battalion based at Serti could have detached company-strength FOBs at Obudu/Bebi, Gwoza and Michika while a similar-sized desert warfare battalion would be stationed at Yusufari and maintain outfield FOBs at Kukawa, Alagarno and Damasak.

Collectively, the specialists would dominate their environment, master the terrain, hold the line until SF reinforcements arrive to bolster their numbers and firm up their hands, boosting the general efficiency of the operations by infusing local knowledge into operational planning.

For me, these highland and desert warfare units only serve to bolster the versatility of the Infantry Corps in sync with amphibious, airborne and asymmetric warfare operators. There are several countries in Asia, Arabia and Latin America which retain mountain and desert warfare units